I had to flee the US – as a foreign, Black, pro-Palestinian activist, I tick every box on Ice’s list | Amandla Thomas-Johnson

I’ve never been accused of any crimes, let alone prosecuted. My experience sums-up the draconian plight of non-citizens in the USWhen I arrived in the US four years ago to start my doctorate at Cornell University, I thought I’d be the last person to be hunted down by the immigration authorities. As far as I could tell, “the special relationship” meant that a British passport carried a sort of immunity akin to that enjoyed by diplomats; it was a mobility that allowed me to work, after all, as a journalist unscathed across west Africa’s restive Sahel belt for years.Things began to fall apart after I attended a pro-Palestine protest on campus in September last year. We had brought a job fair to a standstill – because it featured booths from Boeing and L3Harris, companies that supplied Israel with the armaments it needed to carry out its genocidal campaign in Gaza. Although I was there for just five minutes, I was subsequently banned from campus, a punishment that felt like a kind of house arrest because my home was on the university’s Ithaca campus in upstate New York. While I could continue living there, I was barred from entering the university premises.Amandla Thomas-Johnson is a journalist and writer covering global Blackness and contemporary IslamDo you have an opinion on the issues raised in this article? If you would like to submit a response of up to 300 words by email to be considered for publication in our letters section, please click here. Continue reading...

Comments

Opinions

Letters to the Editor: Most people who lose jobs through no fault of their own don't get $2-million payouts

LA Times

My wife always swore she didn't masturbate. Then I caught her in the act doing something so shocking, I can barely look her in the eye: ASK JANA

about 24 hours ago

Dailymail

'He'll never be PM': In unsparing detail, Cabinet sources tell PVO of Jim Chalmers' private humiliation over his super tax backdown, his denial until the last moment... and Albo's Shakespearean betrayal

about 24 hours ago

Dailymail

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: After cancer, Kate's house move really is a new start

about 24 hours ago

Dailymail

DAN HODGES: This is who Cabinet ministers have told me is REALLY to blame for Labour's China crisis... and some Foreign Office officials are even calling her the 'Dragon Lady'

about 24 hours ago

Dailymail

PETER HITCHENS: It's Left-wingers who should worship Maggie. She's no idol for REAL conservatives

about 24 hours ago

Dailymail

KENNEDY: Here's the truth of weird drug-fueled orgies in Congress that Tucker Carlson is investigating... it makes me sick to my stomach

about 24 hours ago

The war on pet stores and more: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 19, 2025

Newyork Post

ALEX BRUMMER: I've just met the world's top financiers and they're terrified. A catastrophic crash that will destroy savings, prosperity and living standard is coming. Britain's in deep, deep trouble

1 day ago

Dailymail

'Insane, thoughtless and directionless. The Sussexes are spiralling': Insider's damning words to ALISON BOSHOFF on Meghan's latest reinvention as they reveal 'mess' - and her very surprising next move

1 day ago

Dailymail

International treasure hunt for Lady Gabriella husband's missing cash: RICHARD EDEN

1 day ago

Dailymail

QUENTIN LETTS: Fortune is turning against the silken, sinuous courtier blamed for the China spy scandal. So will Keir Starmer sever the suppurating limb that is National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell?

1 day ago

The Bill Belichick trainwreck just keeps getting worse, and we all know who’s pulling the levers

Newyork Post

BORIS JOHNSON: Britain is enduring a slow-motion catastrophe, as one set of tax rises triggers the next. There's only one solution

2 days ago

Hilaria Baldwin may be out of DWTS, but she’s still going for first place — in the self-pity Olympics

Newyork Post

JAN MOIR: How can soiled Prince Andrew live with himself? And the troubling question: What role did he play in Virginia's death?

3 days ago

Dailymail

TOM UTLEY: Imagine the furore if Dame Mary Beard had celebrated the demise of 'thicko black rugger buggers' at Cambridge!

3 days ago

Newyork Post

Phil Murphy’s foolish obsession with wind power has carved a huge opening for Jack Ciatarrelli

3 days ago

Dailymail

ALISON BOSHOFF: Jacko's daughter reaches out to his 'grooming' victims for the first time

3 days ago

Dailymail

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Iris Affair on Sky Atlantic: A wonderfully loopy thriller that pays homage to classic Hitchcock

3 days ago

Democrat hysteria over the end of racial gerrymandering ignores the reality of racially-mixed America today

Newyork Post

Comments

Opinions

Letters to the Editor: Most people who lose jobs through no fault of their own don't get $2-million payouts

Mamdani’s plan to strip the NYPD’s boss of disciplinary power would threaten public safety

Zohran’s dodgy mayoral debate: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 20, 2025

The shutdown proves it: We don’t need so much government after all

I don't care if it makes him happy. What my dad has asked me to do is deplorable: DEAR JANE

SARAH VINE: If we fall for Kim Kardashian's £34 dead rat it's proof we've really lost it

MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The prince wriggled and squirmed... but a free and fearless Press would not let him off the hook

FLOURISHING AFTER 50: I'm 58 and just lost my job - I'm terrified no one will hire me again

Trump should box Putin in BEFORE any Budapest showdown

Mamdani’s pathetic plans for NYC schools prove he doesn’t really want to govern the city at all

My wife always swore she didn't masturbate. Then I caught her in the act doing something so shocking, I can barely look her in the eye: ASK JANA

'He'll never be PM': In unsparing detail, Cabinet sources tell PVO of Jim Chalmers' private humiliation over his super tax backdown, his denial until the last moment... and Albo's Shakespearean betrayal

ALEXANDRA SHULMAN'S NOTEBOOK: After cancer, Kate's house move really is a new start

DAN HODGES: This is who Cabinet ministers have told me is REALLY to blame for Labour's China crisis... and some Foreign Office officials are even calling her the 'Dragon Lady'

PETER HITCHENS: It's Left-wingers who should worship Maggie. She's no idol for REAL conservatives

KENNEDY: Here's the truth of weird drug-fueled orgies in Congress that Tucker Carlson is investigating... it makes me sick to my stomach

The war on pet stores and more: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 19, 2025

Letters to the Editor: Plan to prevent fires with fuel breaks is 'counterproductive and harmful'

BEL MOONEY: How can I stop family parading snaps of my kids online?

The day I dined with the Muhammad Ali of sumo wrestling - this is how the great champion feasted: JEFF POWELL

Dear Abby: I know my sister is stealing from me, but she won’t admit it

ALEX BRUMMER: I've just met the world's top financiers and they're terrified. A catastrophic crash that will destroy savings, prosperity and living standard is coming. Britain's in deep, deep trouble

'Insane, thoughtless and directionless. The Sussexes are spiralling': Insider's damning words to ALISON BOSHOFF on Meghan's latest reinvention as they reveal 'mess' - and her very surprising next move

International treasure hunt for Lady Gabriella husband's missing cash: RICHARD EDEN

QUENTIN LETTS: Fortune is turning against the silken, sinuous courtier blamed for the China spy scandal. So will Keir Starmer sever the suppurating limb that is National Security Adviser Jonathan Powell?

The Bill Belichick trainwreck just keeps getting worse, and we all know who’s pulling the levers

DAILY MAIL COMMENT: It took a long time coming, but Prince Andrew has finally done the right thing

Why John Bolton probably WON’T pay big if found guilty in his documents case

ALEX BRUMMER: Britain suffering inflation calamity

Game of thongs! My bizarre night with the sumo superfans by ROBERT HARDMAN

Winning World War III, ‘vision thing’ dooms Democrats and other commentary

Sick Young Republican group chat is part of the right’s new ‘vice signaling’ bonding ritual

Why Trump is succeeding in the Middle East where Biden and Obama failed

Mamdani’s debate lies, dodges and fumbles — signs of disaster ahead for NYC

The disastrous NYC mayoral debate: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 18, 2025

A key psychiatric group censored our doctors for seeking to discuss the harm of child sex changes

Dems’ biggest problem isn’t Mamdani and socialists — it’s the ‘moderates’ who cave to them

AMANDA PLATELL: Meghan's own goal of monumental stupidity is the kind only she is capable of making

Letters to the Editor: Ballot conspiracy claim is easily debunked, at least in L.A. County

BORIS JOHNSON: Britain is enduring a slow-motion catastrophe, as one set of tax rises triggers the next. There's only one solution

Hilaria Baldwin may be out of DWTS, but she’s still going for first place — in the self-pity Olympics

Celebrate with an “Ocean State of Mind” this festive season

Infographic: Moderna’s strategic partnership with the UK government

An investment in the future

We're local park volunteers but Castle Water has demanded a £5,479 bill: CRANE ON THE CASE

Mamdani suffers awful showing in NYC mayoral debate — but Cuomo still can’t bury him

RICHARD EDEN: Why Petra Ecclestone's husband is on HRT

JAN MOIR: How can soiled Prince Andrew live with himself? And the troubling question: What role did he play in Virginia's death?

TOM UTLEY: Imagine the furore if Dame Mary Beard had celebrated the demise of 'thicko black rugger buggers' at Cambridge!

Phil Murphy’s foolish obsession with wind power has carved a huge opening for Jack Ciatarrelli

ALISON BOSHOFF: Jacko's daughter reaches out to his 'grooming' victims for the first time

CHRISTOPHER STEVENS reviews The Iris Affair on Sky Atlantic: A wonderfully loopy thriller that pays homage to classic Hitchcock

Democrat hysteria over the end of racial gerrymandering ignores the reality of racially-mixed America today

Don’t let America become a UK-style antisemitic hell-hole

President Trump needs to call out the deadly persecution of Nigerian Christians

Hamas’ public executions: Letters to the Editor — Oct. 17, 2025

Good on Trump for targeting Venezuelan drug cartels allied with dictator Nicolás Maduro

After the Gaza cease-fire, what will these faux revolutionaries protest? Some ideas

Wealthy pay a heavy price: Reeves's failure to cut the benefits bill is costing Britain dear, says ALEX BRUMMER

This week in whoppers: NY Times calls terrorists ‘hostages,’ Mamdani’s sick fix for bus assaults and more